After finishing his performance at Roland Garros 2010 Olexandr Dolgopolov, who will get to the TOP-50 after the French Open, gave an interview to Ukrainian Tennis Portal sapronov-tennis.org.
- Olexandr, congratulations with a successful debut in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament! The third round is a huge result! Today you finished your doubles performance here: was it a “relaxation” match after tough singles matches or you had serious targets?

- Of course, we wanted to win, but opponents played very well today. The game didn’t go the way we wanted. Actually, Denis and I aren’t doubles players, so we did everything we could.

- It was noticeable, that you played for pleasure – there were jokes, interesting points…

- Yes, it was interesting for us to play today, but opponents were strong and had serious intentions. In deciding points they played better, while we weren’t good enough.

- Let’s return to the match against Almagro. In the first set you got used for the game. But then there was no breakthrough and you didn’t get an advantage. Your speed yesterday wasn’t as good as in the previous matches and you made lots of mistakes. What was the reason?

- It’s hard to say. Maybe, it was just not my day. Physically and mentally I was OK, but there was a huge amount of mistakes. After the match I looked at statistics. I wasn’t successful with my actions yesterday.

To couldn’t play long rallies, because Nicolas is very good in playing such points. The weather was wet, the court was slow and it was tough to play with a winner. The serve was also slower. So, such conditions gave a bigger advantage to Almagro. I felt the ball badly, while Nicolas played his best tennis.

- Did you try to change something during the game?

- First, I tried to play several long rallies, but I realized that I had bad chances playing that way. I needed to change the rhythm, to play fast with winners. From time to time I succeeded to play well, but after some games mistakes were coming back. You have no right to play in the following way against Almagro.

- This is the last clay tournament of the season. Then there will be grass and hard. After this tournament you will become a TOP-50 player, which means participation in bigger tournaments. How are you going to prepare for new surfaces?

- Before Wimbledon I’m going to play in Eastbourne. Then I’ll come back to the clay – there are three clay tournaments after Wimbledon – Stuttgart and Bastad, and then Hamburg. After that I’ll play in Umag and Gstaad.

- So, you are not leaving the clay surface yet?

- Yes, because then there will be lots of hard-surface tournaments in the USA and indoor in Europe. So, there is no sense to start earlier.

- You have a great team – the coach, a manager group, support of your parents. How do you feel in this team? How do you work together, plan you tournament schedule?

- Yes, I have a great team and I always feel support of my parents. They came to France to help me here. I have a coach, a manager and results of our work a very good. We are doing everything properly and I’m satisfied with our work. I started the season in TOP-130 and now I’m in TOP-50. So, I have nothing to complain at.

- People say that Jack Reader promised to learn Russian language while working with you. How is he doing?

- (laughs) now he knows only bad words which I say on court. Seriously, he knows lots of words now and understands well and reads a Russian self-teacher. He often asks me to teach him, but there is always not enough time.

- Are you satisfied with your work with Jack?

- We know each other for two years. In the last year he was helping me, giving some advice, watched my matches. From this season he is travelling with me to all tournaments and will support me to the end of the year. I like to work with him and we’ll continue working together.